Powys is a county and preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham to the north; the English ceremonial counties of Shropshire and Herefordshire to the east; Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Neath Port Talbot to the south; and Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion to the west. The largest settlement is Newtown, and the administrative centre is Llandrindod Wells.
The Upper Derwent Valley is an area of the Peak District National Park in England. It largely lies in Derbyshire, but its north eastern area lies in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Its most significant features are the Derwent Dams, Ladybower, Derwent and Howden, which form Ladybower Reservoir, Derwent Reservoir and Howden Reservoir respectively.
Until 1974, Radnorshire was an administrative county in mid Wales, later classed as one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales. It covered a sparsely populated area, and was bounded to the north by Montgomeryshire and Shropshire, to the east by Herefordshire, to the south by Brecknockshire and to the west by Cardiganshire.
The Elan Valley Reservoirs are a chain of man-made lakes created from damming the Elan and Claerwen rivers within the Elan Valley in Mid Wales. The reservoirs, which were built by the Birmingham Corporation Water Department, provide clean drinking water for Birmingham in the West Midlands of England. The five lakes are known as the Claerwen, Craig-goch, Pen-y-garreg, Garreg-ddu, and Caban-coch.
Rhayader is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, within the historic county of Radnorshire. The town is 20 miles (32 km) from the source of the River Wye on Plynlimon, the highest point of the Cambrian Mountains, and is located at the junction of the A470 road and the A44 road 13 miles (21 km) north of Builth Wells and 30 miles (48 km) east of Aberystwyth.
The Elan Valley is a river valley situated to the west of Rhayader, in Powys, Wales, sometimes known as the "Welsh Lake District". It covers 70 square miles (180 km2) of lake and countryside.
The Desert of Wales, or Green Desert of Wales, is an archaic term for an area in central Wales, so called for its lack of roads and towns, and its inaccessibility. The term was coined by English travel writers in the nineteenth century and has no equivalent in the Welsh language. The area corresponds roughly to the upland area called Elenydd in Welsh.
The Claerwen reservoir and dam in Powys, Wales, were the last additions to the Elan Valley Reservoirs system built to provide water for the increasing water demand of the city of Birmingham and the West Midlands. The dam is built mainly of concrete, with the exterior dam face in dressed stone. The dam is a gravity dam built upon solid rock foundations as the pressure of the reservoir behind should be in equilibrium with the total weight of the dam itself thus causing complete stability.
Nant Glas is a village in the Elan Valley near Rhayader and Llandrindod Wells in Powys, Wales. It is on a side road between the A44 to the northeast and the A470 to the southwest. There is a small chapel at the southern end of the village.
The Elan aqueduct crosses Wales and the Midlands of England, running eastwards from the Elan Valley Reservoirs in Mid Wales to Birmingham's Frankley Reservoir, carrying drinking water for Birmingham.
The Elan Valley Railway (EVR) was a Welsh industrial railway built to assist in the construction of the Elan Valley Reservoirs in mid Wales. It was in operation from 1896 to about 1912/1916.
Cwmdauddwr is a village in Powys, Wales. It is contiguous with the town of Rhayader on the opposite side of the River Wye. The village is located on the B4518 road linking Rhayader with the Elan Valley Reservoirs.
The Mid-Wales Railway was conceived as a trunk route through Wales connecting industrial areas in North West England with sea ports in South West Wales. The company was prevented from reaching its goal by competing proposals in Parliament, and it was only able to build a line between Llanidloes and a junction with the Brecon and Merthyr Railway 5 miles (8 km) east of Brecon. The line was 70 miles (110 km) long and opened in 1864. The company found it impossible to raise the share subscription, but the contractor partnership of Davies and Savin agreed to build the line and take shares in payment,
Lôn Cambria is the section in Wales of National Cycle Route 81 in the British National Cycle Network, which runs from Aberystwyth to Wolverhampton.
The Craig Goch Dam, often called the Top dam, is a masonry dam in the Elan Valley of Wales and creates the upper-most of the Elan Valley Reservoirs. Construction on the dam began in 1897, and it was completed in 1904. The primary purpose of the dam and the other reservoirs is to supply Birmingham with water. In 1997, a 480 kW hydroelectric generator began operation at the dam.
The Elenydd is an upland area of Mid Wales, extending across parts of northern and eastern Ceredigion and Powys between Aberystwyth and Rhayader. Elenydd is also a name given to the medieval commote of Cwmwd Deuddwr which covered approximately the same area.
The B4518 road is a road in Powys, central Wales, with a total length of 30.5 miles (49.1 km). It begins at 52°18′5″N3°30′41″W in Rhayader near the junction of the A470 road and the A44 road and leads eventually to the A470 again at Llanbrynmair at 52°36′42″N3°37′38″W. En route going north from Rhayader it passes through the following settlements: St Harmon, Pant-y-Dwr, Tylwch, Llanidloes, Staylittle, Pont Crugnant, Pennant, Bont Dolgadfan, Llan and Plas Esgair. It passes through the Clywedog Valley and Clywedog Reservoir, built in 1964.
Afon Elan is a tributary of the River Wye which runs through the wide expanse of upland moors, traditionally known as Elenydd, in central Wales. Its valley is the Elan Valley. The name probably arises from elain meaning 'hind' or 'fawn' in reference perhaps to the rushing, bounding nature of its course.
Stephen W Williams or Stephen Williams (1837–1899) was a civil engineer and architect who worked mainly in Radnorshire and Breconshire, Wales. He was county surveyor of Radnorshire from 1864 to 1899. He had offices at Rhayader and lived at Penralley House, Rhayader, He became a noted authority on the archaeology of the Cistercian Monasteries in Wales and undertook excavations at Strata Florida Abbey in Ceredigion, Abbey Cwm Hir in Radnorshire and Strata Marcella near Welshpool in Montgomeryshire. He was appointed High Sheriff of Radnorshire in 1899.
There are a large number of reservoirs in Wales reflecting the need for the supply of water for both industry and for consumption, both within the country itself and in neighbouring England. A number also provide hydroelectricity and many old reservoirs also provided motive power for industries, especially for the processing of minerals such as metal ores and slate.
